


Baby's Bounty

by Lailuva



Series: No Prison Can Hold [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Gen, I haven't taught anyone in months so Din gets to go into a SPACE PRESCHOOL, No Prison Can Hold AU, Parenting Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24522946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lailuva/pseuds/Lailuva
Summary: Din must hunt down a valuable bounty, and there will be dire consequences if he doesn’t find his quarry...
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Series: No Prison Can Hold [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712392
Comments: 63
Kudos: 512





	Baby's Bounty

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place about a month or so after No Prison Can Hold.
> 
> While it's part of a series, you don't have to have read No Prison Can Hold first to follow this one.

Din unloaded the supplies as quickly as possible, trying to soothe the fussing child still strapped to his chest. “We’re almost done, okay?” He wasn’t sure if it was the cold finally getting to him or he was just tired, but for the last fifteen minutes the child had been whining nonstop.

The last crate was stowed in the cargo hold, Din set the antigrav cart to autoreturn to its owner, and finally shut the door, keeping out Lorrd’s cold air. At least there wasn’t any falling snow to inhibit takeoff and they could get out of there quickly. The kid was starting to cry louder and louder.

“I know, I know,” said Din, patting him on the back. Truthfully he didn’t know; the kid had been perfectly happy shuffling through the inch of snow that had dusted the town and when he’d gotten cold had been perfectly happy snuggled in the carrier. Only at their last few stops and on the way back had he started getting upset. But he couldn’t be hungry - Din had bought him some fresh grilled meat as a treat from one of the food speeders in the market - and he probably wasn’t tired yet, since he’d had a two-hour nap right before they left.

The kid was still fussing as he got in the cockpit and sat down, and even the ship controls weren’t distracting him. “How about you play for a bit?” suggested Din, lifting him out of the carrier and setting him in his box. He spotted the green plush frog on the floor and picked it up, handing it back to its owner. “Here go you. Why don’t you play with this and your Mandalorian toy?” He peeked in the box and frowned. “Where is it?”

The kid slapped the edge of the box and cried “Abwabaa  _ maah dalaa!” _

Din looked under the kid’s chair, then under his chair, then under the other chair. He checked the ship dashboard and moved the kid’s box to look behind it. He did it again, and a third time before he expanded his search the rest of the ship, searching more and more frantically as the kid’s cries got louder and louder. All the kid’s favorite spots - the bunk, the loose wall panel, the smuggler’s compartment, behind the crates - were equally empty. He checked in between every crate and inside every net and opened the armory and, dreading the results, even turned on his helmet light and looked down the vac tube. No Mandalorian toy, only the kid’s increasing screams of distress.

Din sighed. Where could it be?! He had to find it; ever since the kid had been given it by the Solo twins, the figurine had become an inescapable part of their routine. Before he could swaddle the kid for bed, the kid had to lay a rag Din had given him over the toy and pat it until the toy was sufficiently tucked in. If he gave the kid the shifter knob to play with, he had the toy mimic his every action. Whenever Din needed ten minutes of privacy to shave, the toy was dragged along to stand with its owner outside the tiny ’fresher and would be banged loudly on the floor in sync with the kid’s equally loud shouting until Din came back out. And whenever Din gave the kid food, there had to be one tiny piece set aside to be fed to the toy.

_ Oh. _ Din bit back a curse. Of course, the kid had wanted to drag the toy along to the market, and Din had figured it’d be secure enough tucked into the carrier. But it had been taken out to feed the toy some of the meat he’d bought.

He couldn’t say he really wanted to trudge back out in the cold and scour the market for a toy, but he wanted to handle the kid without the toy even less.

Din went up to the cockpit to find the kid chirring anxiously. “I figured it out, kid,” said Din, picking him up and carefully tucking him back in the carrier. “Let’s go find your toy.”

-

“It’s just a simple Mandalorian figurine. You know, one of those plasticine dolls,” said Din for at least the dozenth time in the last hour, this time to the clothes vendor he’d bought the kid the coldweather slippers, mittens, and hat he was now wearing from. “About this big, bluish armor?” He used his hands to indicate the size and point to his own gear. “My kid’s lost it.”

The old Mirialan did not look the least bit sympathetic. “We’re not responsible for lost items.”

“I’m just asking if you’ve seen it,” said Din through gritted teeth. “I’ve backtracked all over town and no sign of it.”

The Mirialan shrugged. “Some kid probably saw it and picked it up. Finders keepers.”

_ Then  _ they  _ can get the kid to eat dinner and put him to bed, _ thought Din angrily. The kid had calmed somewhat when Din had packed him up and walked back into town, but was rapidly starting to lose his patience. Din would’ve lost his half an hour ago, but every time those big brown eyes looked up at him with hope and trust that he would find the precious lost toy, he’d somehow managed to find some more.

This shopkeeper was really testing that, though.

“Look, you might ask around at the school,” said the shopkeeper finally. At Din’s look, he elaborated, “Some New Republic outreach program just set up a new magnet school. There’s been more kid and parent traffic around lately. I know lots of folk who just send toys they find up there.”

“Thank you,” said Din, more to provide an example to the kid than anything, because he strongly suspected the shopkeeper just wanted him to leave.

He stalked back outside, automatically wrapping his cloak closer to protect the kid from the wind, which had picked up in the last hour as evening fell. He’d retraced every step he’d taken already and no toy; the clothes shop had originally been the first stop, since the kid had been far too exposed in only his coat. Din had gone inside every shop he’d visited and even inspected every food speeder set up, not just the one he’d bought the kid’s food from, to cover his bases and because he suspected the toy had become lost when the kid had taken it out of the carrier to feed it. He’d found nothing.

“Bwaah,” said the kid worriedly, tapping his mittened claws on Din’s breastplate.

“We’ll find it, kid,” said Din, trying to sound reassuring.

The school was set on the edge of the town and clearly new. While the town’s buildings were hunkered down against the weather, worn-in and having seen countless winters, the new school building stuck out like a sore thumb for its shinier surface and its Core-style construction. Din snorted; it’d be far more difficult to keep warm than any of the native buildings. Typical Core attitude, thinking they knew anything about how the Outer Rim worked. Probably designed by an architect who’d never seen anything outside of Coruscant except in holos.

As he got closer it looked like the school was already closed. His heart sank. He didn’t want to stay on Lorrd overnight, especially after he’d just resupplied and shown his and the kid’s face all over the town, and he  _ really _ didn’t want to face an entire evening of persuading the kid to eat, brush his teeth, and go to sleep without the aid of the Mandalorian toy. There had already been three very, very long days when the toy had somehow been jammed behind the vac tube, and Din had no desire to repeat them.

Visibility was starting to decrease as the snow picked up, but Din spotted a figure fiddling with a door lock up by the school. Fearing the building was about to be closed for the evening, he hurried up the slope and called “Hey!”

The figure turned, the wind blowing off the hood to reveal a fresh-faced young Zabrak. He took one look at Din and went pale with terror. “O-oh my, it’s y-y-you!”

Din wasn’t proud of what he said next, but his child’s bedtime routine was at stake. “I’m not collecting, and if you do have a bounty, I’ll ignore it if you can help me.”

“I - I -” squeaked the Zabrak, but before he could stutter out anything else, the kid poked his head out from under Din’s cloak and chirruped happily. “Green bean! It’s you!” said the Zabrak, reaching out before he looked up at Din’s visor and quickly took his arms back.

“Do I know you?” asked Din. He sounded vaguely familiar.

“Um, I, um… on the prison ship?” said the Zabrak, shrinking away. “I took care of the little one after you were, um…”

“Electroshocked and arrested?” supplied Din.

“Yes.” The Zabrak twisted his hands anxiously. “So, uh, I guess you got him back? I knew Master Skywalker and Senator Organa would do the right thing.”

“Yes,” said Din, not elaborating. “Look, I was told lost toys get sent up here. He lost his Mandalorian figurine and I need to find it.”

“Oh of course! Lots of kids go into town with their parents for meals or errands before or after school and we’re always getting sent toys so we can get them back to their owners.” The Zabrak grinned at the kid, who cooed back. “Can’t have you getting all upset over a lost toy, can we?”

“Can you help me?” asked Din impatiently.

“I sure can!” said the Zabrak cheerfully. “I’ll show you the lost and found. Come on.”

The Zabrak unlocked the door and led them inside to what looked like a lobby of some sort. The air was much warmer, and the kid immediately poked his head out and cooed happily at the walls, brightly painted with whimsical versions of animals frolicking over pastel hills. Din resisted the urge to scowl at a fluffy pink mudhorn.

Another parent and child appeared out of one of the other doors. The little boy immediately pointed at Din. “Mama, look, a real Mandalorian! And he’s got a weird baby!”

Without missing a beat, the Zabrak said, “Now, Dannel, what did we talk about?”

“He’s not weird, he’s just a different species,” said the child, looking up at his mother, who nodded approvingly. “Sorry, Mr. Tolli.”

“Good correction,” said the Zabrak with a smile, patting the child’s shoulder affectionately. “Have a good night, you two.”

Din ignored the way the mother hustled her child past him, keeping herself between them, and followed Tolli into the school.

This hallway was also open and well-lit, though decorated with soft pastels rather than animals. They’d scarcely made it a meter before another door opened and a round, friendly-looking Lorrdian woman poked her head out. “Sunon!” she scolded. “What did I tell you? Work is for work hours, and a work-life balance is so important for your health, especially in such a demanding profession!”

“I know, Marli, but I ran into these two,” said Tolli, pointing back at Din and the child, who cooed at the newcomer.

“New applicants? I can take it from here,” said Marli, bustling out into the hallway. “Welcome to New Horizons. I’m guessing you’re interested in the preschool program? How old is your little one?”

“No,” said Din, cutting her off; he sensed this was someone who should not be allowed to start going or she would be impossible to cut off. “My kid lost his toy. I was told it might’ve been sent up here.”

“Oh of course. They’re always sending us stuff from the town proper.” Marli smiled hugely at the kid. “And it’s so distressing, losing a favorite toy.”

“I’ll help too,” said Tolli determinedly. He gestured at the kid. “This is the one I mentioned in my interview. The reason I decided to leave the military and go into teaching instead.”

“And we’re so glad you did,” said Marli with another impossibly huge smile.

The two started walking and Din followed. The child whined and struggled in the carrier, and after a moment Din let him out to walk. A school had to be one of the safest places to let the kid loose in, after all.

Neither of the teachers could restrain themselves; Marli described the building and its services, full of pride and completely undeterred by Din’s lack of response, and Tolli fell back to walk beside the kid, eagerly responding to his various chirrups. Din didn’t really pay attention to Marli’s chattering, but found the building more and more interesting as they walked through. Several doors were open and inside were colorful rooms bursting with toys, plants on the windowsill, miniature chairs and tables sized for the occupants, charts of colors and shapes that would appeal to a wide range of species and cultures, posters of aurebesh decorated with cartoons to match each letter. He tried to remember his own schooling; the Mandalorians had usually had sessions with tutors in various subjects, but there’d been a school on his home planet. He couldn’t remember all the way back to his early childhood, when he’d been more like the kid. Had he stayed at home or been sent to a school like this one? What age were you supposed to start schooling, anyway? The kid liked it when he named things on the ship, but was knowing the name of every tool in the toolbox half as valuable as knowing his colors and being able to count?

All three adults snapped out of it when the kid suddenly darted into one of the classrooms. Din knew what had caught his eye as soon as he followed the kid inside; this room had a tank of live frogs. “No,” he said, scooping up the kid. “That’s not yours. And they’re not for eating, anyway.”

“We’re sure to only keep non-toxic pets,” said Marli. “He wouldn’t be the first one to try and eat them.”

Tolli laughed. “Viria told me about what Nenni did.”

Marli sighed. “I’m just glad she didn’t choke.”

The kid patted Din’s arm and pointed at the frogs, babbling happily. “I see,” said Din, unsure of what else to say, finally letting the kid down when he kicked his feet insistently. The kid ran up to the tank, fearlessly climbing on a chair to press his hands to the transparisteel and cooing at the frogs.

Tolli leaned in next to the kid. “How many do you see?” The kid chirped, and Tolli counted, “One, two, three, four! Four frogs!” while pointing each one out. The kid giggled and clapped his hands in delight.

Marli cleared her throat. “The storage room where we’ve been keeping the lost and found items is just in the next hall,” she said.

Before Din could do anything, Tolli said, “Come on, green bean!” and had hurried off with the child giggling and following him. Din trailed at the end of the line as Marli led and Tolli pretended to race the child down the hallway, laughing almost as much as the kid was.

Marli stopped at a door decorated with an overly fluffy turquoise varactyl and opened it, pausing to let Tolli and the kid rush in and motioning for Din to go ahead before following them all inside. It turned out to be a spacious storage room, stocked with paper and paints and crayons and a wide variety of other supplies that Din vaguely remembered seeing as a young child at his school. In the back were boxes of extra toys, stacks of puzzles, and buckets overflowing with blocks. Not for the first time since he’d left the Solos’ equally toy-filled apartment, Din wondered if kids  _ really _ needed all that stuff. Or was he letting the kid down and being a terrible parent?

“Here’s the lost and found box,” said Tolli, pulling an obnoxiously orange-and-purple-patterned crate off a shelf in the back. He set it on the floor, putting another box on the ground so the kid could climb up and look too. “What are you looking for, green bean?”

“It’s a Mandalorian figurine,” said Din automatically. “One of those plasticine ones, about as tall as he is, bluish armor.”

“Oh, the one he had on Coruscant,” said Tolli with a nod. “I remember.”

Din blinked in surprise. Tolli had seen the kid while he’d been kept on Coruscant? He’d never thought much of the Zabrak soldier who’d originally found and taken the kid from the ship beyond estimating him as not much of a threat, but if he’d gone and checked up on the kid… that’d been kind of him. He must’ve genuinely liked the kid. Even if Skywalker and his family had turned out to be all right, it was good to know someone else had been in the kid’s corner while he was gone.

Din watched as Marli and Tolli helped the child sort through the items in the box, exclaiming over every find as if it were the most exciting thing they’d ever seen. The kid liked the attention, though; his ears perked up as high as they would go and he babbled happily at the two teachers who eagerly chattered back, describing the items the kid held and their color and shape and size.

The kid tossed out countless toys - worn figurines, balls, loose blocks, a few plushes like his frog, a shaker whose noise made Din suspect the owner’s parent had lost it on purpose - along with books, stray mittens, a blanket, a lone shoe, and several sweaters. Din’s heart sank as the box got emptier and emptier and the kid’s ears drooped downwards further and further as no Mandalorian toy appeared.

Finally the box was emptied. Tolli and Marli made noises of sympathy, but the kid hurried back over to Din and patted on his boot anxiously, sad eyes staring right past the armor and into his heart, pleading “Maah dalaa?” and clearly expecting Din to fix it and make everything all right.

Din was fully prepared to go and scour the entire town again if that meant he could make the kid smile again.

The storage room door opened and everyone looked up, Din putting a hand to his blaster, but it was only a Lorrdian who stuck his head in. “Marli!” he said. “Castar saw that Mando looking for his kid’s toy come up here, did you see him?”

“Yes,” said Din before anyone else could speak.

“Oh, good!” said the Lorrdian, shuffling inside and digging into a satchel he’d had slung over his shoulder. “After you came by I checked the area over again after I closed my speeder, even under the tables, and -”

He pulled out the precious Mandalorian toy, and whatever else he was going to say was lost in a deafening screech of joy as the baby recognized his beloved toy and rushed forward to claim it.

“Here you go, buddy,” said the Lorrdian, smiling kindly, and he chuckled when the kid snatched it right out of his hands and hugged it tightly. “Aww, what a cutie. You hold on to that, now, you hear?”

“Thank you,” said Din, very sincerely, making a mental note that if he ever saw this man’s face on a bounty puck he would definitely refuse the job.

“No worries. Y’all take care.” The Lorrdian waved and then shuffled back out.

The child was unable to contain his delight, showing Marli and Tolli and Din the toy in turn while squealing “Maah dalaa! Maah dalaa!”

“Thank you,” Din told the two teachers when the kid paused to take a breath.

Marli winked at him. “Oh, trust me, we know how hard it can be without that special item, especially at this age. Now, are you sure I can’t interest you in an application…?”

“No,” said Din firmly. “We need to get going.”

“I’ll walk you out,” said Tolli quickly. “I’m heading home anyway.”

Din tucked the child and the newly-retrieved toy into the carrier, double-checking that the kid was secure and triple-checking the toy. He didn’t think he’d have to worry; the kid was clutching the toy so tightly it would probably take an entire army to pry it out of his claws. He chattered at it incessantly as Marli wished them good night and Tolli led them back through the building, as if narrating the harrowing search he’d had to endure.

“He seems so happy,” said Tolli, who had been unable to stop staring at the kid since they’d set off. “I’m glad he’s doing okay. He was pretty upset when… well.”

Tolli had been very helpful in locating the toy, so Din decided not to bring up the time Tolli had stolen the kid from the ship and helped cart him off to Coruscant.

“I’m glad I got to see him again,” said Tolli, giving the kid a downright sappy look. “He’s the reason I decided to switch careers and go into teaching after all. I was lucky to get the internship here.” He laughed. “Just my luck I ran into you two again!”

“Yeah,” said Din, and the baby chirruped agreement, waving his hand at Tolli.

They made it back to the animal-decorated lobby. A stuffed akk dog had been left on the floor. “Oh, that’ll be Abina’s,” said Tolli, scooping it up and setting it on the unattended reception desk. “Bet she won’t notice, though, I swear she comes with a different toy every day.”

Din hesitated, but it was a question that had been gnawing at him for a while, and he might as well ask someone who knew the answer. “How many toys are kids supposed to have?”

Tolli looked over at him, surprised. “What do you mean?”

_ I mean that every other kid I’ve seen has an entire treasure trove and mine has three, and one of those is the knob from a lever. _ Out loud, Din said, “He doesn’t have a lot. I don’t have a lot of space on the ship. But…” He gestured lamely at the school. “There’s so much here. What’s he supposed to have?”

Din was grateful for the helmet because he was pretty sure he felt his face warm, but Tolli at least appeared to be considering the question seriously. “Hmm. How old is he?”

“Fifty.”

“Fifty!” Tolli’s eyes practically bugged out for a moment before he said, “What species is he?”

“I don’t know.”

Tolli looked surprised, but refocused and asked, “So, um, how developed is he? Like an infant, or more like a toddler?”

Din glanced down at the kid, who was paying him and Tolli no attention in favor of having an in-depth conversation with his toy. “He can walk by himself, eat by himself, get in and out of things easily enough. He doesn’t talk, though, at least not in Basic.”

“Okay.” Tolli  _ hmm _ ’d thoughtfully and nodded to himself before saying, “Well, it’s difficult for me to say without spending that much time with him, but as long as you have something covering most areas of development, I’d say you’re good.”

Din found that completely unhelpful, and prompted, “Like what?”

“Well, he’s got something to act out scenarios with, and talk too,” said Tolli. “Imaginative play is good for his brain development, and speech. You say you don’t have a lot of space, so…” Tolli scratched his chin thoughtfully before continuing, “If I had to pick something, I’d go with a set of blocks. He can build to express himself and figure out problem solving, which is good for the brain. He’ll have to grasp them and carry them, so that’s motor development. And you can talk about what color they are, and count them, and so on. If they’re aurebesh blocks you can talk about letters, but even if they aren’t you can arrange them into letter shapes. Art supplies are good too. Helps with fine motor and lets him express himself.” Tolli beamed at him. “But the most important thing is usually a caretaker that’s involved in their child’s education. If he’s got that, it doesn’t matter as much what kind of toys he has. Even just naming things on your ship or letting him help with chores is a good educational experience.”

Din considered the information. “That’s… good.” The kid chirped agreeably.

Tolli grinned fondly at the kid. “He seems pretty well-adjusted.”

Din almost said  _ thank the stars, _ but he was more appreciative of Tolli’s words than he wanted to risk indicating, so he simply said, “Thank you.”

“Take good care of him,” said Tolli, fumbling to open the door while not looking away from the kid, who chattered and waved at Tolli.

Din nodded, and walked out the door and into the cold.

The wind had picked up a lot and the snow was blowing around them, somehow finding the slightest gap in Din’s armor and seeping through his clothes, but the discomfort was nothing compared to the weight of the happy child nestled in the carrier. He wrapped his cloak around his kid, occasionally checking to make sure the toy hadn’t been dropped, and his kid’s happy coos were enough to keep him warm all the way to the ship.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the return of Tolli and some of Din's parenting difficulties. :)
> 
> The Essential Baby Yoda Commentary:  
> DAD WE CAN'T LEAVE TINY TOY DAD. DAD. DAD DON'T LEAVE I CAN'T FIND TINY TOY DAD!!! THE TOY MANDO, DAD  
> Oh FINALLY you figured it out. Let's go find Toy Mando!!  
> You'll find it, right, Dad? *the biggest, cutest puppy eyes in the galaxy*  
> Hi there, nicest of the fuckers who tased Dad!!  
> Oooooo this place looks fun!  
> OMG THEY HAVE A BUFFET  
> Okay, I guess counting them is fun too  
> Where is my toy? Where's my Mando? *return of the puppy eyes* Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad  
> I FOUND MY MANDO!!!  
> Dad, what are you even talking about? Of course life with you is the best, toys or no toys...although you know, if you installed a tank of frogs on the ship that'd be super awesome...


End file.
